Far From Home
by Narwain
Summary: A high school band travels to Middle-earth by accident while on their way to a competition. Can twin brother and sister Avery and Averil bring the band together and survive in another world? (Rated for mild language and violence.)
1. A Brush With Eternity

**A/N:** _Fair warning--if you're a Tolkien purist or hate portal fics, you won't like this story. After reading all sorts of stories about how someone goes to Middle-earth, I thought I'd try one, but with a twist. Comments, suggestions, and constructive criticism is welcome; flames will be ignored and--if I'm in a bad mood--deleted, because screaming "You suck!" at me is not going to improve my writing skills, savvy? If I really crank you off, go practice your kickboxing. . Oh yes...and the first chapter doesn't have much Middle-earth in it, but the following ones will, if only because I'm a pervy elf fancier and I can only keep myself from writing about them for so long.  
_**A/Nx2:** _I've changed the bit with the band teacher in it, par SakuraSun's helpful suggestions. Many thanks for that! Hope this is better._

**Disclaimer:** _I do not own any part of the Lord of the Rings films from New Line Cinema. Nor do I own any person, place, event, object or idea in The Lord of the Rings, by JRR Tolkien. Averil, Avery, and their assorted friends and enemies are entirely my own creation. Windy Ridge is not a real town that I am aware of. Any resemblance to real persons, places or events is coincidental and entirely unintentional. (That should cover everything! Whew! .) Oh yes...and props to Terry Pratchett for the idea of how to start my tale off. Wouldn't it be great if everyone who borrowed from Terry Pratchett admitted it?_

Okay. I'm finished. That's it. Go read and review. . Thanks!

* * *

Trouble began, and not for the first time, with a journal.

It was black and rather worn, with countless bits of graffiti on the cover, and it was very zealously guarded by its owner--one Averil, an eighteen-year-old high school senior from Windy Ridge High School.

One fateful day, however, Averil's journal found itself peeking out of her book bag, completely open to theft. It was a chance bit of carelessness on Averil's part--when she had thrown her things down on the bleachers just before band practice, the only thing on her mind was finally beating her twin brother Avery at kickboxing.

"You suck! You suck!" he jeered her as he danced just out of her reach, ducking her blows with a grace that belied his tall, lanky form. It was not that he was much stronger than Averil--but he was clever, and could keep his head in the middle of a fight much better than Averil could. "Ha!" he laughed to himself as Averil slipped on the slick mat beneath their feet. "You lose, runt."

Averil looked up with a scowl pulling at the corners of her full mouth. "Yeah, but you have big ears," she muttered to herself. Avery reached down in a silent offer to help her to her feet, but she impatiently pushed aside his hand and heaved herself upright on her own.

"Don't be such a sore loser!" Avery chided her, watching his sister's tense form as she marched over to the bleachers to gather her things. "It's just a bit of fun! Ril!" His sister didn't turn around, instead pretending to be busy gathering her things. Avery shrugged and began to walk toward the gym door as the band students began to enter.

"AIIIEEE!" Averil shrieked suddenly, making Avery jump. "Ave, what did you do with my journal?" she snapped, grabbing his shoulder.

"What journal?"

"MY journal! My black journal! The only journal I've ever had!"

Brandon, the school mascot, looked at Averil with interest. "Your journal's black?"

"Shut up!" she snapped at him. "Ave, what did you do with it?"

Avery sighed. "Look, brat--I don't have your journal. I don't mess with your stuff ever since the bra incident," he added, referring to the time he'd decided to experiment with using Averil's bras as water balloon launchers.

"Bra incident?" Brandon asked, his curiosity plain.

"Shut up!" Averil and Avery snapped simultaneously.

"Jeez…" Brandon muttered, turning away. What his pale gray eyes sighted on, however, was enough to make him freeze. "Ah…Averil?"

"Yes?" she said, pausing in her argument with her twin for a moment.

"Is your black journal kinda worn-out? With all kinds of scribbly things on the cover?"

"Yes, if you must know…why?"

"Because Sam is reading it."

Averil froze and whirled around; her jaw dropped as she saw her most prized book in Sam's grasp--and heard him reading aloud from it. "August 13th," Sam declared to the circle of listeners. "Joey came over to my house again today. He was going to play basketball with Avery, but since Avery wasn't home he and I played instead. It was so much fun--he actually let me win! He's such a hottie--but I wish he didn't treat me like 'one of the guys'…" Sam paused and let out a girlish shriek, fluttering one hand over his heart as if it were trembling with excitement.

Averil's dark gaze was murderous. "I'll kill him," she said through gritted teeth, shoving several other band members out of the way roughly. "Sam Wright! I swear I'll kill you if you don't shut your big mouth and give me back my journal right NOW!!!"

Sam jumped back, grasping the black book to his chest. "Be a sport, Averil! We're all dying to know what happened between you and Joey."

"Not to mention how someone like you could get the hookup with a so-called 'hottie' anyway," Bethany, the majorette captain, added primly. There was a faint titter among the crowd. "I mean, look at you! You're taller than half the basketball team." Averil's eyes narrowed; at 5'11", she was tall, but just because the comment had a grain of truth did not make it acceptable.

"I might be tall, Bethany, but at least I'm not a whore," Averil replied coldly.

"How could you be? No guy would touch you!" Bethany shot back.

"Whereas there's plenty of you to touch?" Averil answered, raising one brow, forgetting her stolen diary for the moment.

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Just that you need to spend some more time on the treadmill, 'cause you've got more rolls than Heiner's Bakery. Are you trying out for the sumo wrestling team or something?"

Bethany's face had turned a mottled red. "Shut up before I shut you up!" she snapped.

"I'd like to see you try!" Averil taunted.

Bethany lunged forward, but was caught by one of the band members. "Calm down there, Bethy. You don't want to get suspended right before the competition tomorrow night," a few of her friends told her.

"It's worth it if I can shut her fat mouth!" Bethany answered, eyes blazing.

Averil's eyes narrowed and she started toward Bethany, but Avery pulled her back. "It's not worth it, Ril," her twin soothed her. "She's just a stupid bi--"

"What is going on here?" the band teacher exclaimed in anger. The crowd of students quickly backed up from the furious teacher who stood with her hands on her hips, assessing the situation with disapproval. "Were you two girls fighting?"

"I'm sorry," Bethany said, looking up with an rueful expression. "But I can't stand here and let Averil talk about you that way! She said you were a demented old hag."

"Did not!" Averil and Avery simultaneously exclaimed.

The band teacher sighed, putting one hand to her forehead. "Girls, I have enough trouble out of you as it is," she murmured. "Must we get into another episode like this one? I thought I had ended the rivalry between you two."

"Rivalry? Try war," Averil muttered.

"Well, I've never really disliked Averil," Bethany said sweetly. "But I can't just sit there and deal with her rude comments and--and--and her conceited attitude!"

"Really, now," Averil murmured, her face going blank.

"Bethany, you know fighting is not the answer," the teacher chided her. "If you have a problem with one of your classmates, you should see a trusted adult and ask for advice. Let us handle it, and stay out of trouble."

"But--" Bethany's blue eyes seemed to cloud over for a moment, and then she brightened. "But you weren't here yet! And you're the only teacher I really trust!" Averil snickered, and Bethany glared over.

The teacher looked from one girl to another uncertainly. "You should've just walked away, Bethany, and went to find me."

"I'll do that next time," Bethany promised with an innocent expression.

"See that you do. Both of you," she added, glancing briefly at Averil and Avery. "Or else I'll be forced to take sterner actions--like removing you from the majorette corps or color guard." With that, the teacher stormed off, yelling for the students to walk out to the field.

"But--you can't do that!" Bethany called after the band teacher, her features still curved in a perplexed, innocent expression. "Being a majorette is, like, my total life!"

"Oh, give it up, Bethany," Averil muttered.

"Next time you should lie to the band teacher like Bethany does," Avery commented, never taking his eyes off Bethany for a moment. "Tell her that you're pregnant or something. I'll back you up." Bethany gave Avery an annoyed look.

"No," Averil answered, arching one dark brow. "I'll let Bethany be the only one who stoops that low because she can't handle getting detention."

Bethany began to follow the band students leaving the gym at a leisurely pace. "You know--" she began, glancing over her shoulder. "I'm glad I told Sam where you keep your diary now." Smugly she sauntered away, her sandy blonde curls bouncing as she walked.

Averil's eyes narrowed, but Avery laid a hand on her shoulder. "Let it go," he told her brusquely. "Let it go." Soothingly he smoothed his twin's sleek dark hair. "Go get your flag and the rest of your twirly stuff," he told Averil. "I'm going to go get your diary back." Averil smiled to herself and began gathering her things.

* * *

Late that night, when she should have been resting for the band competition she would be participating in the next day, Averil found herself sitting up and scribbling in her newly recovered journal. This was not meant to be an entry--instead, she found herself writing out a letter, though to whom she couldn't be sure.

This day has been terrible, she began. _I almost got in a fight with Bethany again. She thinks she's such great stuff because she's a cheerleader and a majorette. Sam stole my journal and read it to the whole band--and of course he would have to find the part about the guy I used to have a crush on. And then the band teacher told me that if Bethany and I didn't stop fighting, she'd take me off color guard. How unfair is that?! It's not like I'm the one who ever actually starts it, anyway. I just...well, I can't leave well enough alone, I guess._

I swear, sometimes it seems like the only people I can trust are my family. Avery's practically my best friend. I hope we go to college together--I don't want to think about how awful it will be for me if I have to go alone.

Averil leaned back, gazed at the various fantasy posters that lined her walls--unicorns, fairies, dragons. _I wish I could go somewhere where I could start over and make a new name for myself,_ she wrote. _A place where Avery and I could get out of the everyday grind of school and work and have real fun and adventure. A place where I could have some real friends. Even a place where I could do something exciting once in a while, even if it's dangerous, because the most dangerous thing I do on a regular basis right now is driving in rush hour traffic._

I don't know if there's a place out there like that. But if there is--some other country, some other universe--I would love to go there. And I'd love to take my friends with me, especially Avery. Someplace… Averil's pen hesitated for a moment--then she sighed and wrote, _someplace where I could make a difference._

The alarm clock on her nightstand beeped, and glancing at the display Averil realized that it was two o'clock in the morning. "I've got to get some sleep," she sighed. "I've got a three hour bus ride to that competition tomorrow." She pulled the letter she'd been writing out of her diary, folded it, and stuck it under the white candle that perched on her window sill. Briefly she opened the window and, lifting the screen aside, leaned out to gaze at the twinkling stars--there was no moon that night. Their faint light shone on the hillside beneath her home, the crowns of the trees, the sparkling stream that ran from further up the mountain to the valley below. Then, sighing, Averil climbed into bed, falling asleep as she watched her curtains flutter in the breeze.

* * *

The bus ride was worse than either Averil or Avery could have imagined, even in their worst nightmares. Though they both pushed their way to the back of the bus and settled in comfortably before the trip even began, the air inside the vehicle was stifling and humid. "I think I'm dying," Averil groaned, leaning her head against the bus seat.

"At least your uniform is thinner than mine," Avery answered. "You'd think it'd be cooler when it's raining cats and dogs outside." He looked outside at the nearly black, lightning-torn skies. "Creepy, isn't it?"

"It--" Averil paused as a roll of thunder briefly drowned out any possible conversation. "It is," she answered at length. "I didn't know it was supposed to storm today." She twisted in her seat, leaning against the wall of the bus, then looked across the aisle at her twin. "Hey, Ave…were you in my room this morning?"

"I went in there for a second looking for my goofy band hat. Why?"

"Well--" Averil frowned. "Did you move this piece of paper I had under the candle on my window sill? I looked for it this morning and it was gone"

"No. What'd you lose?"

"Just…a letter," Averil answered dismissively, shrugging. "No big deal."

"Whatever," Avery replied with a shrug. The bus whipped around a particularly sharp curve in the winding mountain road, and Avery frowned. "That bus driver's going too fast," he muttered to himself. "Even I can drive better than this."

"Then go drive for him," Averil replied, pulling out her portable CD player and popping her headphones on. Avery rolled his eyes and turned his gaze back out the window as his sister began humming along with the music.

Averil abruptly found herself pitched forward as the bus lurched. "What's he doing?!" she shouted angrily--and then she saw that the bus was spinning in the road, headed for the outcropping of rock on the left side of the road. The students collectively screamed in horror as the bus slammed into the boulder, bounced off and skidded across the highway. She felt a hand reach across and take hers, and turning her head she saw her brother staring at her with wide eyes. In Averil's ears her CD continued to play inanely, as if nothing had ever happened--as if this were all a surreal dream.

The bus crashed through the guardrail and soared through the air, bouncing off the rocky mountainside over and over again like a ball. Avery and Averil held onto each other as they were pitched against the ceiling, then one of the walls of the bus, then the floor. Averil screamed as her ribcage collided with the edge of one of the seats and a sickening crack was heard. Avery felt his foot collide with someone's head as he was tossed violently about.

And then, just when they were sure that they would never stop falling, the bus came to a halt again, thudding against some unseen barrier. Averil found herself sprawled across the roof of the bus, staring at the jumbled bodies of her classmates who lay prone amid the shattered window glass. Her CD had finally stopped--Averil realized that the headphones had been ripped off her head and thrown who-knew-where. She could hear a roaring in her ears and realized belatedly that blood was pouring from her temple. Awkwardly she raised one hand and pressed it to the gash in a hazy effort to stop the bleeding, then realized that someone still had her other hand in a viselike grip.

"Ave…Avery?" Averil panted, looking at her brother in horror. He looked even worse than she had feared--one arm was thrown back at an awkward, unnatural angle and his face was deathly pale. His uniform was soaked--but with rain or blood, Averil wasn't sure. "Avery?" she said again, trying to elicit a response.

He finally stirred, blinking several times, and his dark eyes took on for a moment a sense of clarity. "Ril," he said, and his mouth curved up in a humorless smile.

"Are you okay?" she asked, concern etched on her features.

"You're the one with blood all over her face…" Avery tried to move and groaned in protest at the pain brought on by his effort. "I don't feel so great, Ril," he murmured.

Averil's eyes widened. "Just lie still," she told him, fear evident in her voice. She tried to sit up and slid on the glass that was scattered all around her, falling back on her side. Her hand slipped from the gash on her head and she clamped it back, feeling weak and wondering why there was a sharp stabbing pain in her side every time she tried to breathe. "Ave?"

Her brother didn't answer, merely turned his head again and smiled at her a little again, then shut his eyes, going perfectly still. Averil followed her brother's example, laying her head on her arm , listening to the roaring in her ears and trying not to think about the fact that blood was flowing freely from her temples, around her fingers pressed against her wound and down her arm. At last, she shut her eyes, and darkness took her.

* * *

Dum-da-DUM!!! Okay, so it's a ghetto cliffhanger--a ghetto chapter, for that matter--but things will pick up. This is the obligatory introductory chapter, after all. O.o And now I will ask you to please and let me know what you think! If everyone hates it, I promise I'll take it down.

Love from Narwain


	2. Away From The Sea

**A/N:** _Big thanks to Jazmin3 Firewing and SakuraSun for reviewing! SakuraSun, I followed your suggestion for that scene in Ch. 1-hopefully it should be better this time. And Jazmin3 Firewing, you read my mind--I'm not planning on having Westron and English be the same language. I thought about substituting Old English for Westron, but I'm not that well versed in it, and it was really the basis for Rohirric anyway. So I'm just going to be vague about it and say they flat-out don't understand each other. = )  
I'd love to know what you think of this chapter! They're finally in Middle-earth--but where? That remains to be seen. See the end of this chap. for more details. As always, please review, but save your flames for your bonfires!_

__

**Disclaimer:** _ I do not own any part of the Lord of the Rings films from New Line Cinema. Nor do I own any person, place, event, object or idea in The Lord of the Rings, by JRR Tolkien. Averil, Avery, and the rest of the Windy Ridge High School band is entirely my own creation. (Windy Ridge is not a real town that I am aware of.) Any resemblance to real persons, places or events is coincidental and entirely unintentional._

* * *

Avery slowly stirred, raising his head with some considerable effort. He was pleased to find that the nearly unbearable pain he had suffered from just after the bus wreck was completely gone, though he was still in basically the same position he had been in--sprawled on his back, with his right hand tightly wrapped around someone else's. Still somewhat dazed, he reached beneath himself with his free hand, trying to make sure that there weren't any unfriendly shards of glass that he might be cut by if he moved around any. To his surprise, however, he met not the crumpled metal of the bus roof, but fine sand. Nor, he realized with a start, was there any part of the wreckage he saw earlier above him--only blue sky with a few ragged wisps of cloud.

Sitting up and feeling only stiff rather than sore, he loosened his grip on his twin's hand and rubbed the back of her fingers. "Ril?" he asked uncertainly. "Wake up."

Averil shifted somewhat, then pushed herself into a sitting position with clumsy, half-asleep movements. "Ave?" she murmured, pushing a loose tendril of dark hair away from her face and giving him a questioning glance. "You look better!" she exclaimed suddenly, giving him a rather childlike smile that let her twin know that she was not entirely awake. Then she looked around them, and her dark brows went up. "Are we dead?" she asked, touching her temple with one hand as if trying to find the wound that had been there.

"We…I don't know," Avery answered, a frown pulling at his mouth as he glanced around. Just a bit beyond where they lay, the sand disappeared beneath the undulating waves of what had to be either an ocean or sea, or a very large lake. "We might be--"

"Where the HELL is my purse?!"

Averil visibly flinched as Bethany's voice split the relative silence. "If we are dead, I don't think we made it to heaven," she told Avery frankly.

Despite the situation, Avery felt his mouth curve in a smile, and he got to his feet. "I think the more appropriate question, Bethany, is 'Where the hell are we?' I think you can do for a while without your glitter lip gloss." He experimentally flexed the shoulder that had been injured; it bent with almost no trouble. _Could have sworn I had dislocated it or torn a ligament or something,_ he mused to himself.

As Bethany glowered at Avery, one of the drummers spoke up. "It's easy to see where we are," Virginia said in chatty tones, shaking the still-unconscious person next to her. "We're at the beach. And I for one am bloody grateful to the powers that be for dropping us here, though they could have switched out our uniforms for swimsuits and beach towels."

Her nonchalance was somewhat disturbing. "Aren't you worried?" Averil asked as Virginia pulled off her navy blue band jacket and threw it unconcernedly on the sand.

"Nope," Virginia answered, smoothing her hair into a ponytail.

Bethany's jaw dropped, and for the moment she forgot about her lost purse. "What's wrong with you? Are you crazy?!"

"Not that either, dude," she answered calmly. "In a minute I'm going to wake up, probably in a hospital bed with a cast and a lot of pain. So I figure, while not enjoy this totally sweet vacation while it lasts?"

Brandon rolled his eyes and marched across the sand to her, then reached out and pinched her arm briskly. "You're not dreaming, dummy," he told her succinctly.

"Serious?!" Virginia yelped, her eyes going wide. "Holy cow! Where are we?!"

"That's what we're trying to figure out, idiot," Averil grumbled. Avery knew that she didn't mean to sound as harsh as she did; whenever Averil got worried or sad, she usually got snappish and angry. He squeezed her shoulder soothingly.

"What are we going to do?" Brandon asked, looking to Avery for an answer. "I don't even know where we are--every beach I've been to has had hot dog and snow cone stands and a lot of hotels." To Avery's surprise, the other band students looked at him as well, as if they expected him to have some sort of plan.

"Well…" he frowned. "We obviously don't have any food, water or shelter, so finding that will be our first priority. And we should try to find somewhere with a phone or the internet so we can let our families know we're okay. And we should elect a leader to make decisions, so we won't be arguing over who should do what."

"But you're talking like we're in the same world," Brandon pointed out. "How do we even know we're still on the planet Earth? And if we are, how can we be sure we're in the same time period?"

"Dude…I hadn't even thought of that," Virginia murmured, looking somewhat alarmed. "How far are we from home? And can we ever get back?"

Bethany's blue eyes widened. "Shut up! We have to get home!" she snapped.

"But I'm just saying…what if we can't?" Virginia persisted.

"Shut up!" Bethany cried again. "You're going to mess it all up! You're going to make us not be able to get home! You're going to jinx us! You're--"

"BETHANY!" Avery shouted, halting the majorette in her panicked outburst. "Bethany," he said again, more softly. "Just breathe, okay? We're not going to say that we can't get home--or that we can--until we find out more about this place. Right now we're just going to stick together and find some help. Is that alright?"

Bethany didn't answer, but some of the high color had left her cheeks. The rest of the band was quiet, standing in a loose clump on the shoreline. "Well, here," Sam spoke up suddenly. Avery noticed his twin's eyes narrow--she still hadn't forgiven him for his journal theft of the day before--and shot Averil a warning glance. "I have a big pack of Juicy Fruit in my pocket. I guess it wouldn't be fair to keep it all to myself." He reached into his uniform and pulled out the gum, handing it to the person next to him. "Everyone take a piece."

Avery smiled in approval. "You might not want to eat that yet," he called over the murmurs of the band. "After all, you might be even hungrier later, if we can't find any food."

"My, aren't we the cheerful one?" Averil murmured.

"So, Avery, you seem to be the man with the plan--what are we supposed to do now?"

Avery blinked in surprise. "Well--" he began, somewhat awkwardly at being put on the spot again. "I guess we need to pick a direction and start walking. We're not likely to find food or shelter here in the sand."

"Just pick a direction?" Bethany asked skeptically.

"It's not as hard as it sounds, really," Averil answered. "There's only three directions to choose from--along the shore one way, along the shore the other way, or inland."

"I say inland," Brandon piped up. "I don't feel like sleeping in the sand, and there doesn't seem to be much chance for food or shelter around here."

"And I say along the beach," Sam answered. "Because at least if we walk along the shore we know where we're at and we have a guide for getting back where we were. If we go wandering around we might never find our way back to the shore."

Avery nodded thoughtfully. "Both very good points--but I think Brandon's right. I don't see much chance of getting shelter here on the beach."

"What are we standing around here for, then?" Virginia demanded. "We're burning daylight!"

"I'm with Virginia," Averil piped up, running one hand along the sequins of her color guard uniform. "Wherever we're going, let's go already, because I'm dying to get out of this goofy outfit."

Avery nodded. "Everyone team up with a partner," he called. "Walk beside them, one pair right behind another. Make sure your partner doesn't get lost or hurt. If something happens to your partner, yell ahead for us to stop. And if you hear someone else yelling for us to stop, and you don't think I've heard, yell with them. But try not to make too much noise otherwise, because we don't want to attract anything like wild animals. Got it?"

"Can we choose our partners?" Virginia asked.

Avery sighed. "What am I, your second-grade teacher? Of course you can choose your partners. Just make sure everyone has someone. If there's an extra person, one group will have to be a group of three. Look out for your partner--and they'll look out for you." The band murmured to themselves as they paired off into groups; Bethany grabbed Sam's arm, and Virginia cheerfully joined Brandon. Averil possessively seized her twin's wrist before anyone else could.

"Sorry," she told her brother as he gave her a bewildered look. "But I don't like half these people. And besides, I know that you'll be leading, and I want to see where we're going. I've always been better at keeping my sense of direction than you." Avery didn't respond, so his sister added, "You don't mind, do you?"

"Of course not," Avery answered, watching to make sure that every band member had a partner. "You ought to know better than that."

"I think you've been elected the leader," Averil added.

"Don't be dumb. I'm just good at keeping other people from tripping out. I've had lots of practice with you, after all." As Averil stuck her tongue out at her twin, he addressed the band. "Everyone ready?" he asked.

The students agreed, some nodding and others calling things ahead to Avery or flashing him a thumbs-up and a grin. "Let's get this show on the road, baby!" Virginia called out over the general commotion.

Avery and Averil turned their back to the ocean and began walking at a moderate pace inland, cutting a path through the grasses that waved knee-high where the sand ended. "Here goes nothing," Averil murmured.

Hours passed slowly. The trip was not as bad as Avery had feared it would be; the day was warm, but not stiflingly hot, and their band shoes were surprisingly comfortable, once they got used to the terrain. "After all," Averil whispered to him at one point, "they were made for walking, weren't they?"

On the outside, Avery observed, his sister seemed to be enjoying the day; she had pulled her hair back and kept lifting her tanned features to the sunlight, as if to soak it all in. However, Avery had lived with his twin for eighteen years, and he could see beyond her casual demeanor to the glint of fear that shone in her dark eyes. "Hey," he whispered to her. "We're going to be okay."

"I know," Averil murmured, but the quick smile she gave him was forced.

"Don't worry," he told her soothingly. "I'm going to look after you."

"I know you will, Ave," Averil sighed. "You've always looked after me. I'm not worried about that." Her voice was very soft, barely on the cusp of hearing.

"Then what is bothering you, little one?" Avery queried, breathing the words out as softly as she had--no sense in bringing more trouble than what was already upon them.

"I don't know," Averil answered. "I mean, at least we're not injured, and--well, what's the worst that could happen?"

"Don't say that," Avery murmured. "There's always something bad that could happen to even the most careful of--hello! What's that?" he said suddenly, shielding his eyes.

"What's what?" Averil whispered.

"There's something in that little dell over there." His dark eyes narrowed. "I can see the sunlight flashing off the metal. Whatever it is, it's not very big."

"Probably some poison grass monster thing," Averil muttered. "I'll go check it out."

Avery stopped short. "No, you stay here with the band," he answered. "And I'll go have a look."

"Ave, don't be such an idiot," Averil muttered. "I might not be able to beat you at kickboxing, but I can sneak around in the woods better than you, and you know it. If there's something dangerous, I don't want you to be harmed. And if I see anything suspicious, you know I'll come straight back--because while I wouldn't mind being a heroine there's no way I'm going to die fighting some seven-headed creature to save Bethany and Sam."

Avery's mouth quirked, and he realized that she was right. "Okay, Averil," he murmured. "But if--" He stopped himself and shook his head. Averil wouldn't do anything stupid. He hoped. "Just be careful, alright?"

"Right!" she answered cheerfully, giving him a mock salute. "Now you hold down the fort, soldier!" Abruptly Averil dropped to all fours, slinking through the grass like an eight-year old child playing hide and go seek.

"Everyone be still," Avery said just loudly enough to be heard. "I think there might be something ahead and I've sent my sister to check it out."

"Great, we're doomed," Bethany grumbled. Avery muttered something under his breath, but held his peace.

A few moments later, Averil returned, looking somewhat shaken. "Well?" Avery asked her as she stood upright. Averil wordlessly held out a slender, straight object.

"You found a stick?!" Bethany exclaimed in annoyance.

"That's an arrow, dude--even I knew that," Virginia answered.

Avery's mind raced with possibilities. "Were there any more?" he asked somewhat urgently.

"Some." Averil was abnormally pale. "It looks like there was a skirmish of some kind ahead. There's a little stream with some bushes beside it just over the next rise. And there's this big area where the grass is all trampled and muddy."

"Did you see any bodies?" Avery asked, his face grim.

Averil shook her head. "I didn't get very close."

"Alright, let's move!" Avery declared. "I want some of you to come with me--D.J., Brandon, Aaron, and…"

Virginia stood. "I'm so coming along."

Averil moved to stand beside Virginia. "Me too."

Avery shook his head. "No," he answered firmly. "It might be dangerous, and--"

"We can handle danger just as well as you can," Averil said, lifting her chin slightly. "And Virginia and I are more light-footed than you guys are, so if there's something we need to sneak up to we can. Not to mention one of us screaming in our highest voice carries a lot further than a yell from you guys, and the band will be more likely to hear it." Virginia nodded agreement, looking as stubborn as Averil, her gray eyes flashing challengingly.

"Any other volunteers?" Avery asked, rather sarcastically. "No? Fine. Sam, you're in charge; keep them quiet and keep them still, or else you guys might be seeing a lot more of these arrows." For once, Sam seemed rather solemn; his eyes were grave as he nodded at Avery. "Let's go," Avery told his small group of makeshift scouts. "Stay close to the ground and try to keep a screen of grass or brush between yourself and--well, everything. And try to stay quiet! Watch what Averil and I do." Avery began creeping through the grass, hoping that his dark clothing wasn't as visible as he felt it was.

As they neared the crest of a high rise, Avery dropped to his stomach, motioning for the others to do the same. On his elbows he scooted forward until he could see the stream Averil had spoken of. It was quite small--he felt he could clear it in a single step without any trouble--but it apparently contained enough water to support the bushes that dotted its banks. Averil was right--for a wide space, the grass had been trampled, as if many people had been there--or as if there had been a skirmish. A soft whistle reached Avery's ears, and he turned to see his twin sister giving him a questioning glance. She cocked her head in the direction of the small valley and raised one brow.

Avery hesitated, then nodded at her. Staying flat on their stomachs, the six students inched closer until they were only a few yards from the stream. "I don't see anyone," Brandon breathed. "Do you think it's safe to stand?"

Avery frowned in thought for a moment, then nodded. "Let's crouch for now," he answered. "We need to stay close to the ground to look for clues anyway."

"Clues? You mean more arrows?" Aaron asked, keeping his voice low as the others had.

"No," Averil answered before her twin could speak. "Things that give us information. Like, anything that could tell us if it was a battle against other people or wild animals--a lot of dead animal carcasses would tell us it was probably against animals. But corpses would tell us that there may be two warring factions in the area. Got it?"

"Right," Aaron answered, carefully making his way across.

"There's stuff that looks like blood on these leaves," Brandon called; Avery glanced to his left and saw that Brandon was beside the bushes near the stream. "But it's dry."

"If there was a little scuffle here, I don't think it's been within the last hour or so," Virginia added. "Not just because that blood--if it is blood--is dry, but because the trampled grass is on both sides of the stream, but the water's not muddy. It's had time to clear."

"Look at this, you guys," Averil called softly, kneeling near the trampled grass. "I think it's been a good while since anyone was here." She indicated the prints in the ground with one hand. "I'm almost positive that these were made when the ground was wet--like it was raining, or else had just rained. But the ground's really dry now, and these prints look old. See?" She lightly ran one slim finger along the edge of the print, and a few dry crumbs of brown earth fell away.

"That's good," Avery sighed. "The last thing we need right now is to get caught in the middle of a battle we have no part in."

"It doesn't look like there was a battle here, really," Brandon piped up. "Just like a small group of people was traveling along, and they stopped by the brook to refill their water bottles or whatever. And the enemy group had the same idea, or else they were also after the water. And when the two groups, met they fought. That's what I think."

"Battle, skirmish, whatever. I still don't want to be in one without any weapons," Averil answered dismissively. "At least, not until I can at least beat Avery at kickboxing."

"Guys?" Virginia called, her voice sounding strange.

"That'll never happen," Avery teased his twin.

"Guys!" Virginia repeated, sounding more urgent this time.

"Coming," Avery answered, and the group began to make its way in the general direction of Virginia's voice. "Where are you?" Avery asked.

Virginia's hand abruptly appeared from among the brush. "Here," she called.

Changing his course, Avery scooted between two bushes and knelt beside Virginia on the stream bank. The others crowded in behind him, making the already tiny opening in the encroaching shrubbery seem even more cramped. "What is it?" Avery asked, looking with concern at Virginia's pale features.

She didn't answer, but Averil grabbed her brother's shoulder. "Ave…look," she breathed, sounding as uneasy as Virginia looked. Curious, Avery followed Virginia's gaze--and abruptly froze.

On the other side of the stream, all but invisible beneath the shelter of the shrubs, was a body.

* * *

_Whee! Scary dead-looking things. Now, since I aim to please, I'd like to ask if anyone has a preference of who/what the body is--elf, man or orc? Living or dead? Royalty, nobility, commoner, or outlaw? You don't have to, only if you have time, because I already have a general idea of what I'm going to do next--but your suggestions do inspire me, and I'd appreciate it if you could give me an idea of what your predictions are. Like I said before, it is **not necessary**, only optional if you're extra bored! = )__Love from Narwain_


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